Track 8 app brings Windows 8 Metro-style music player to iPad

A new, yet not-so-new approach to playing music on your Apple tablet

Windows 8, from what we've seen, is a thing of beauty, and if you're bored of the iPad's missionary music app, then you might want to take a look at Track 8

We've already seen an iPad app that brings the Windows 8 Metro experience to iPad, but one studio has taken that a step further by refashioning the iPad's music app in the style of Microsoft's forthcoming operating system.

Track 8 for iPad, launched today, is a £1.49 purchase from the App Store and gives iPad owners a tuneful preview of what we can expect from Windows 8, which launches later this year.

With the iPad Music app consistently one of the only complaints we hear about the device's iOS 5 software, Ender Labs has somewhat unashamedly borrowed Microsoft's design language, right down to the fonts, which are nigh-on identical.

You can select Metro-style Tiles, equipped with high-resolution cover art for your new music, listening history, most played tracks as well as artists, albums and playlists. You can easily search for songs or artists by typing in names or simply selecting letters from the alphabet. You can also sweet through artists and albums Cover Flow style.

The app will even use the current track as the background art for the app.

It's a testament to how well-designed the Windows 8 and Windows Phone operating systems are that developers are seeking to place do-alike skins on top of Apple-designed applications, for so long thought of as the pinnacle of beauty and functionality.